20 Oct 2020

Born and bred in Shoshong 40 years ago, Gaone Selebo aka Lady Gee is one of the few women artistes in the country who have penetrated the male dominated field of music promoters, as she now runs her own company, Lady Gee Promotions.

A gospel artiste, Selebo narrated that her love for music emerged at the age of 12 while at primary school where she used to lead songs during assembly time and at church. 

She said in an interview that she activated her music talent throughout her secondary school years, and upon completion of her studies she realised that she had to nurture her singing talent and ensured her dream came to pass despite the hiccups she encountered along the way. 

“After the completion of my Form Five, I recognised that I needed to work on my music path, I didn’t know how I was going to start as I had financial challenges at the time, but my passion for music kept me going,” she added.

Lady Gee, who has shared stages with music sensationalists such as Francinah Phorego, Ouna Rateby, Rev Benjamin Dube, Sello Malete among others, said during her infancy in her music career, she was privileged to be a backing vocalist for gospel artiste Rachel Taukobong, the role she embraced for a long time before she released her first single, Re tla Thaba in 2017, which was later followed by a music video.

She said through her video she was nominated for the Annual Gospel Awards (AGA) in Best Gospel Video category where she battled with Gabo Thotobolo and Tshepho Lesole Lady Gee noted that her experiences and journey in the music industry, which was not so smooth but enduring, prompted her to support and promote the local artistes who were faced with so many challenges such as financial constraints, lack of market to sell their products among others.

She explained that before opening up her promotion company, she had always assisted artistes from different genres whom she interacted with, saying she had realised that this was a gift she had hence she ended up forming Lady Gee Promotions this year.

“As a music promoter, I have first point of contact with the artistes and as such it gives me the courage to help them grow their music by giving them some guidance where needed, especially to register with CIPA and COSBOTS as it is crucial,” she highlighted.

She indicated that so far, she had contracted eight artistes under her wing, adding that she aspires to see herself expanding coming years. 

Lady Gee said even though she was a gospel artiste, she does not limit herself in the same genre, saying she promotes different kinds of music genres.

She said working as a music promoter was not easy, especially during the time where music industry had been hardly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes it hard for artistes to host shows and make money.

However, she said she had now started promoting their music through online platforms, something which local people are slowly adapting to and embracing.

She added that at times, she had to make huge sacrifices by reducing subscription fees for those artistes who want her to promote their music but did not have enough fees. 

She noted that she wants to focus more on upcoming artistes who were still finding their way in the music industry, to groom them and see them going far in future.

In two years’ time, Lady Gee said she envisions her company having grown immensely and making headlines in the international platforms. 

She said she had already made contacts as far as Lesotho, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe and were willing to work with her.

Currently, Lady Gee, who is also an events coordinator, is working on her Afro-Gospel album, Ke a mo rata Jesu, which will be released soon. 

ends